‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ Reboot Now ‘On Pause’

Plans for a modern take on Buffy the Vampire Slayer may not materialize. have taken a stake through the the heart. A reboot in development since 2018 has been put “on pause,” executive producer Gail Berman told The Hollywood Reporter on its TV Top 5 podcast.

Joss Whedon, 58, who wrote the 1992 film and created the acclaimed WB series that ran from 1997 to 2003, was attached as an executive producer of the reboot in July 2018. At the time, no network was attached.

The reimagined series was set to be written and directed by Monica Owusu-Breen (Midnight, Texas). Owusu-Breen and Whedon previously collaborated on Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Whedon has since come under abuse allegations, denying the claims.

The Buffy reboot was initially described as “contemporary, building on the mythology of the original,” according to Deadline. “Like our world, it will be richly diverse, and like the original, some aspects of the series could be seen as metaphors for issues facing us all today,” the producers said in a statement. 

However, the announcement received backlash from the show’s devoted fandom. Sarah Michelle Gellar, who portrayed the titular Buffy Summers, gave her blessing to the project, nominating an actress to take over as the new slayer. “I vote Zendaya,” Gellar, 45, told PEOPLE in March.

She told the outlet in October 2018, “At the end of the day, it’s all about great story. If a story lives on, then I think it should be told in any incarnation it can be told in.”

The actress’ comments came hours after former costar David Boreanaz spoke to a packed room of Buffy fans at New York Comic-Con, where audible boos were heard when the reboot was mentioned.”Come on, guys. It’s a good thing. Let’s just embrace [it]. I’m very happy for them. They want to embrace a new generation, something new. … I’m all for it. I think it’s fantastic. Good for them. I hope that it becomes huge and successful,” Boreanaz said at a panel. The adverse reaction was significant enough that it prompted Owusu-Breen to assure fans that “there is only one Buffy.”

“They can’t be replaced. Joss Whedon’s brilliant and beautiful series can’t be replicated. I wouldn’t try to,” she tweeted in July 2018. “But here we are, twenty years later… And the world seems a lot scarier. So maybe, it could be time to meet a new slayer.”